EVANGELION versus GUNDAM
by NeonGensis
Summary: I know you've thought about it at least once. Who would win, Gundams or Evangelions? Here, in a statistic-by-statitistic run-down, are the arguments for both of these favorite mechas!
1. GUNDAM versus EVANGELION

Okay. I know you've all thought about it at least once. Who would win in an all-out brawl between the anthropomorphic Evangelions and Gundams? The answer is the Evangelions. They would kick the Gundam's butts ten ways to Sunday.   
What? Why are you still here? What do you mean you want a reason why? ::sigh:: Okay, this is going to take a long time.... Don't say I didn't warn you.  
  
*****  
  
  
  
The ONLY reason an Evangelion needs to defeat a Gundam hands-down is its AT Field. It stands for an "ABSOLUTE TERROR FIELD". It's a physical barrier of absolute field put out by the Angels and EVA's. It boasts enormous defensive power, and it is able to greatly reduce the power of all attacking weapons. While invisible, it does appear around the EVA and the Angels whenever it is subjected to great shock or impact. The ability of EVA to neutralize the A.T.Field of the Angels is one major reason why EVA was considered as the only weapon against the Angels. True, the AT Field exists in not only Angels and EVAs but humans as well (thus we could assume that the NewType pilots of the Gundams could generate an AT Field), but it doesn't work in the same way for humans. AT Fields are only useful in martial-oriented defensive purposes, and since the Gundams cannot generate this, the outcome is already clear: When all the rounds and ballistics and the dust settles, the Evangelions will be the last ones standing.  
  
BTW, the reason that Evangelions can create AT Fields is because ALL of them presumably have a human being inside them. Inside Unit 01, there are the body and spirit of Shinji Ikari's mother, Yui. Inside Unit 02 there is Asuka's mother. Within the mass-produced series, which were developed by SEELE, there are clones of Kaworu Nagisa. There is presumably something similar within Eva Units 00 (Rei's), 04 (Tohji's), and 03 (a silver one that we never get to see in the series, since it was sucked into a negative-space in Nevada). My theory is that, like the mass-produced series, clones of Rei Ayanami were used in Unit 00 and in the NERV-developed Dummy Plug Program.  
  
POINT: EVANGELION (Self Defense, using AT Field) x5  
  
*****  
  
The one true drawback to the Evangelions is that they need a constant source of electrical energy to power them, hence the cords that are hooked up into them. Gundams are internally powered, although I've yet to find a website that actually says what powers them. Thus, the Gundams can stay in battle longer without fear of switching into five minutes' worth of Backup Power Mode, and without being hampered by the electrical socket on their backs. Whereas Gundams can move about freely and even fly/hover, the Evangelions must stay within the general range of their electrical sockets in the city or else switch to back up power. True, there are a large number of accessories that would enable the EVAs to go into diverse terrain (even into a mountain full of lava!) but without an independent source of power like the S2 Engine the EVA is only as good as its five minutes are worth.  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for independent power source)  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for mobility)  
  
*****  
  
  
The Gundams have more numbers than the Evangelions. There are 11 chapters in all in the Gundam universe:   
  
Mobile Suit Gundam, MS Gundam: The 08th MS Team, MS Gundam: 0080 War in the Pocket, MS Gundam: 0083 Stardust Memory, MS Z (Zeta) Gundam, MS Gundam ZZ (Double-Zeta), MS Gundam: Char's Counter attack, MS Gundam F-91, MS V Gundam, New Mobile Report Gundam Wing (I'm not counting Endless Waltz), and Gundam Turn-A. I haven't seen ALL of the Gundam films, but I'm assuming that there is only one Gundam per story, with the exception of Gundam Wing, which has four. This brings the total to a whopping 16 Gundams!  
  
The Evangelions, by contrast have only 14 EVA units. There's units 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, and then the mass-produced series from 05-13. That brings a total of 15 EVAs, only one less than the Gundams.   
  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for sheer numbers)  
  
*****  
  
HOWEVER, all of these Gundams were spread out throughout the Gundam UC & AC (United- and After-Colonies) chronology. There's no way that all the Gundams would meet each other and unite against the Evangelions at the same point in time. It would be like the Angels taking on the EVAs all at once. There's no way that it could happen, so we must disregard that last point. On the other hand, the EVAs are all in the same chronological period, a mere half-year the start of the series to the end, presumably. While the Gundams can't meet each other and unite, the EVAs could conceivably fight the Gundams as a singular force.  
  
POINT: deducted from GUNDAM (for inability to account for numbers all at the same time)  
  
POINT: EVANGELION (for conceivably uniting into one offensive force)  
  
*****  
  
The pilots of the Gundams are called NEWTYPEs. They are commonly referred to as the next step in human evolution, with heightened extra-sensory perception (ESP) abilities. Jion Daikun theorized that it was man's living in space, unfettered by the Earth, that allowed Newtypes to appear. Newtypes have highly evolved mental abilities. They can sense each other, and have some sort of prescient power that allows them to have flashes of awareness. They also possess superior mind and body coordination, and seem to have an affinity for machines. They also seem to have a sixth sense that forewarns them of danger. People like Heero Yuy, Chang Wu-Fei, Trowa Barton, Duo Maxwell, and that Quattre kid are examples of Newtypes, and are feared and shunned alike by the rest of humanity, the "Oldtype."  
  
Oldtypes can however become Newtypes through drugs and other methods, thanks to the research at the NewType Research Institute (NTRI, founded in UC 0079). These people are called "BioSoldiers." BioSoldiers and natural NewTypes alike are naturally gifted physically in areas of stamina, athleticism, endurance, and fortitude.  
  
The Evangelion pilots, while rigorously trained by their commanding officer of tactics, Captain Misato Katsuragi, are still only 14- and 13-year old kids. There are no genetic or extrasensory advantages to them, although for some reason only children born after the Second Impact are able to engage the Evangelions. Also, they are at a hormonally unbalanced time in their lives as young teenagers, which can disrupt their already perilous synchronization with the Evangelion Units.  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for extraordinary abilities inherent in the NewTypes)  
  
*****  
  
The sheer number of copies that can be made of Rei Ayanami is theoretically limitless. As soon as one is destroyed, another can take its place. The same has been theorized of Kaworu Nagisa, that he is in reality SEELE's answer to NERV's Rei. The one drawback is that the Rei clones (and presumably Kaworu's) can only share their one "soul" or "existence"-- they pass on their memories to their successors, like when Rei II passed on her thoughts to Rei III. Still, unlimited copies of one's self is far from a bad thing.  
  
POINT: EVANGELION x2 (for both Rei and Kaworu)  
  
  
  
  



	2. GUNDAM versus EVANGELION

The Evangelions are ENORMOUS! Some websites say that Evangelions are roughly 14 or 15 stories tall ! Don't believe me? We can prove this as well. In the episode where EVA 01 has been taken over by the dummy plug against Bardiel, Tohji's black EVA 04, we see EVA 01 hold the entry plug in its hands just before it crushes it. Imagine it to be your hand, and the Entry Plug suddenly becomes roughly the length of a straw (6 inches).  
  
If the straw/entry plug is 6 inches, then let's convert an average person's height into the same scale to get the size of an Evangelion. I am roughly 5 feet, 10 inches, which converts to 70 inches. I read somewhere that the average ceiling height is roughly 7 and a half feet (for now, we'll round up to 8 feet to make things easier on the math. True, this rounding up will balloon our calculations later, but not by much, so it's acceptable). Thus we can assume that a one-story building is 8 feet high, two stories roughly 16 feet high, three stories 32 feet high, etc.  
  
Let's put the calculations into a formula now:  
  
70 inches (for your height) / 6 (inches for the straw or dummy plug) = x (the EVA's height) / 100  
  
The next line of calculations should then look like this after cross-multiplying:  
  
700 feet = 6 X, or (700 feet / 6) = X, where X = the Evangelion's height, in feet. This comes to 116.67 feet.  
  
Sounds a little small, right? Well, divide this number into 8 feet, the height of a single story, and you get 14.58 stories tall ! Good Lawd!  
  
Gundams, on the other hand, are not so lucky. According to the back of the Turn A Gundam diecast metal model box, a regular human is exactly the height of a Gundam head, minus the stupid V-antenna thingy. This is no good to us because we don't know how many heads tall a Gundam can be! So instead, we'll use the scale provided by the Bandai models.   
  
A completed 1/144 scale model Gundam comes out to about 5.5 inches, so it would look like this:  
  
1 / 144 = 5.5 / X, where X is equal to the true Gundam height, in inches.  
  
When we solve for it, through cross-multiplication, we get:  
  
X= 5.5 (144) = 792 inches, or 66 feet.   
  
When we divide this 66 feet by 8, the average height we chose for one story, we get 8.25 stories tall!  
  
While the Gundams' 8.25 stories tall is certainly impressive, it's still nothing compared to the Evangelions' average 14.58 stories tall.   
  
POINT= EVANGELION (sheer size difference can make a huge difference in the course of a fight!)  
  
*****  
  
Okay, some people in the past have pointed out my errors in counting the Gundams in the part about sheer number of pilots. Fine, fine, I give them that point, for having larger numbers.  
  
POINT: GUNDAM   
  
*****  
  
But there's still no way that you can get all of the Gundams throughout the Gundam Chronology together in one time era, in order to battle the Evas together. So, I revoke that point in any case.  
  
POINT DEDUCT: GUNDAM  
  
(LOL-- Gee, you think that this thing's rigged in any way?)  
  
*****  
  
But there's still no way that you can get all of the Gundams throughout the Gundam Chronology together in one time era, in order to battle the Evas together. So, I revoke that point in any case.  
  
POINT DEDUCT: GUNDAM  
  
(LOL-- Gee, you think that this thing's rigged in any way?)  
  
*****  
  
Both Gundams and Evangelions are controlled by a human pilot, and, in the Eva's case, also innumerable remote teams of engineers, technicians, and scientists. These pilots are also assisted by computers, which automate most details of the robot's movement.  
  
In the Gundam's case, radar is virtually useless in combat (due to its own use and emission of Minovsky particles, which actually work against the radar system) and infrared sensors are useful only in indicating large heat sources. Thus, the Gundam is forced to rely on primarily visual sensors (located mainly in the head, although the cockpit is in the torso). Cockpit images are extensively enhanced by the mobile suit's computer, and when a mobile suit or vessel can be positively identified, crisp computer graphics are substituted for the low-quality visuals.  
  
Since Gundams are reliant on visual sensors, it's possible to fool the pilot with simple decoys. An inflatable dummy balloon (not unlike what the Evas used against the blue floating prism-Angel in Episode 5) will often suffice to distract or confuse a Gundam pilot, and even dummy ships are sometimes used to intimidate a distant Gundam. After all, if the mobile suit's compter thinks it's identified an enemy unit, it'll substitute a computer graphic and the pilot will be none the wiser!  
  
(Thanks to GundamProject.com for all of this info)  
  
Gundams are reliant on a main camera or dual cameras in its eyes, with backup cameras and subsensors. Evangelion units, however, have a 360-degree visual interface in the cockpit-entry plug for the pilot, thanks to the entry plug and some trick with the LCL during initialization. (We see this in episode 1, when Shinji goes through three stages before initialization gives him a window's view of his surroundings. I believe these are the skeletal, muscular, and epidermal layers) The Evas' one, two, and four eyes serve no real use besides making it look more anthropomorphic (and, these are the Eva's true eyes).  
  
Besides the 360-degree view, the Evas also have multitudes of unseen visual sensors which provide true, perceptual images (you see what the eyes would truly see, like a camera, rather than computer-generated stock images, which could be mistakenly identified).  
  
Also, the Eva's backup operators at the bridge have access to multiple views from without the Eva unit, provided by NERV aircraft in the field. Thus, in the case that the pilots are blind on one side for any reason, their operators can still provide information on their visual surroundings.  
  
POINT: EVANGELION (it's nearly impossible for them to be blinded, whereas Gundams are too reliant on their main sensors) 


	3. GUNDAM versus EVANGELION

  
Evangelions have no use for propulsion systems. For transport, they can be brought aboard aircraft carriers (like in Episode 8, Asuka Strikes!) across the ocean, or in giant-sized ramjets across the skies (as in Episode 18, with Tohji's black Eva, and also in the movie). Actually, it's not even until the first Eva movie that they go anywhere near the upper stratosphere-- and even then Eva 01 does this through the use of some kind of "energy wings." So this doesn't count.  
  
(On a completely unrelated side note, there's reportedly an 'Episode X' out there-- an episode that was cut from the normal 26-episode run. In it, I saw a scene where the Eva is hovering through Tokyo-3 with these energy wings. It was a commercial from my fansubs. No one I know, not even my friend at Gainax, knows what this is, and some of them are actually thinking I hallucinated it all. When I finally did find a tape entitled 'Episode X' I eagerly brought it home only to discover it was an anime porn that was done VERY badly... I suspect it was made entirely with MS Paint! V_V*)  
As for Gundams, the earliest mobile suits were propelled by chemical rocket engines until it was realized that super heating the heat generated from the fusion reactor could be used to generate thrust. It was more fuel efficient, and is referred to as a thermonuclear engine. A later development of this, the thermonuclear pulse engine, ignites fuel pellets of helium-3 and deuterium, but is only useful for long journeys in the solar system. This is despite its amazing fuel efficiency. Smaller thrusters are studded across the mobile suit, called Attitude Control Verniers, or Apogee motors. These are strictly for maneuvering, turning, and minor course adjustments.  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for having an internal propulsion system)  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for being able to get into space at all!)  
  
*****  
  
Both Evangelions and Gundams are sealed air-tight-- they leak neither water in when underwater, nor leak air out. There'd be a serious problem for interplanetary Gundams if they did leak air!)  
  
POINT: EVANGELION and GUNDAM (for all-terrain access)   
  
*****  
  
"Some people complain about my lack of melee weapons. However, I never intended for you to get close to me in the first place." --Trowa Barton.  
  
Not counting extravagant weapons, both Gundams and Evangelions have a vast array of convention armament weapons. Extravagant weapons include but are not limited to plasma weapons, beam/particle weapons, nuclear weapons, baroque weapons, etc. Baroque weapons are science fiction-fantasy weapons which might include lightning, wind, vibro-, and flame cannons.  
  
Machine guns are seldom adequate to even scratch the Gundam's armor, much less penetrate an Eva's AT field. If you're lucky you may hope for a hit on the main camera, but pilots shouldn't expect too much from them.  
  
Both Gundams and Evas have bazookas (although at the Eva's sacle, they're more like ICBMs-- intercontinental ballistic missiles-- and can be held one in each hand!) and machine guns. They can also carry all manners of rockets and missile launchers.  
  
Gundams especially carry a variety of bladed weapons, from Trowa's pathetic elbow-mounted knife, to the Zaku's hatchet-style heat hawk, and the heat saber used by the MS-07B Gauf and the MS-09 Dom. The crossbone vanguard also had that wacky shot lancer, a hydraulic spear which may also be fitted with built-in machine guns (can anyone say "gunblade"?)  
  
Highly-ballistic Gundams, like the Heavy Arms, have the unfortunate tendency of being weighed down (drastically reducing all areas of speed, acceleration, and agility), and are so limited for additional weapons that they can't carry anything besides ammunition! Once out of munitions, they're little better than the next weaponless mecha. The same is even more true with the Heavy Arms-Custom, which specializes in missiles.  
  
Evangelions are equipped with shoulder-mounted spike missiles (see the Eva movie), progressive knives (they can cleave a jet fighter plane neatly!), handguns (with silencer), submachine guns, swords (Eva 01 and 02 were both originally supposed to be equipped with prog-katanas), uzis, double tonfas (in the unseen Eva 04 production model-- which also had a riot-style shield), long range automatic assault rifles, and a sniper gun (although it had the distinct drawback of monopolizing all of Japan's energy, fire only once before overheating, and being left wide open between its long cooling periods). Due to the sheer size of its projectile weapons, it's assumed that they have larger shells and have better range, but this is only supposition and hence should be disregarded. They also had axes, grenades, and the mother of all melee weapons, the Longinus lance!  
  
The lance is the only thing besides an Angel that was able to easily pass the Eva's AT Field. They're roughly as long as an Eva is tall (14.5 stories-- see entry #3) in both forms, and if you count the original lance with the mass-produced lances, number nine in total.  
  
POINT: EVANGELION (for the nine Longinus lances-- if it were not for this, since I don't know too much about Gundam's conventional weapons, I would call it a near draw, but still in Evangelion's favor)   
  
  



	4. GUNDAM versus EVANGELION

As for unconventional weapons, Evangelions only have two to speak of. There are no laser weapons in the Evangelion world. The first unconventional weapon would be the prog blades (both knives and katanas), although they can be also used as conventional weapons. They are only unconventional when they have a pinkish glow about them.  
  
It's my theory that whenever they're like this, they take on the attributes of plasma blades (They become super-heated so they essentially reach the hottest state of matter, plasma) and vibro blades (it vibrates at supersonic speeds, improving penetration and damage. Since it's vibrating so quickly, it also becomes heated).  
  
The two are basically alike, although vibroblades are superheated with kinetic energy. Hence, a vibroblade can be a plasma blade, but not vice-versa.  
  
Evangelions also have one flame thrower. Rei's unit has a huge shoulder-mounted white and blue flame thrower. I'm presuming there's only two of these, since I haven't seen another for any other unit in either the toys or the series.  
  
Gundams have a vast array of unconventional weapons. From ridiculously powerful space weapons (beam lasers, wave cannons, etc) to plasma weapons and blades, Gundam has far more exotic weapons than Evangelion. In Gundam Wing alone, there's a super beam cannon (Wing 00's weapon of choice in "Endless Waltz"), a plasma scythe, beam sabers on both sides, Nataku's dragon arm, and Nataku's flame thrower. They have the unquestionable advantage in exotic weapons.  
  
POINT: GUNDAM (for their vast array of exotic weapons)   
  
*****  
  
Gundam's space colonies are obviously more technologically advanced than NERV's headquarters (being set in the future), but NERV has far more personnel and financial resources.   
  
Both space colonies and the NERV headquarters are technically unreachable by either side. Evas can't get past the atmospheric ceiling, much less into deep space, and I doubt very much that the Gundams could break through all 60 triple-enforced titanium plates before either the Evangelions or the JSDF (Japan Self Defense Forces) were scrambled against them.  
  
POINT: DRAW  
  
*****  
  
If the headquarters are the tactical center for either side (whether in Tokyo-3 or on a colony floating in the other side of the solar system), then NERV has the undisputed advantage. They have far more superior resources, they're not mostly filled with civilians, they're mostly staffed with engineers of one sort or another and military personnel, and their information-gathering abilities as a tactical center are unmatched.  
  
They have a GEOFRONT, for Chrissakes.  
  
Besides, they also hold Lillith. Now who's gonna mess with her???  
  
POINT: EVANGELION (For far superior tactical headquarters)  
  
*****  
  
Gundams may be pretty cool machines, but that's all they are: mobile suits. Cold, hard, lifeless machines.  
  
Evangelions, on the other hand, have the mysterious ability and tendency to go berserker. Once in berserker mode, the Angel within the Evas awakens, and is capable of nearly anything. They have no need for power sources, their limbs are super flexible and extendable, they have some limited regeneration capabilities, and they're completely driven by the fight-or-flight condition.  
  
While this ability has some major drawbacks, in terms of its effects on the pilot and that it can't be called upon at will, it still has no counterpart ability among the Gundams.   
  
POINT: EVANGELION (for their ability to go berserker)   



	5. Conclusion and Tabulation of Points

Now that that's all over, let's tabulate all the points accumulated.  
  
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION:  
  
1 point for superior headquarter resources  
1 point for Berserker ability  
1 point for unpenetrable headquarters  
5 points for AT Field  
1 point for reasonably uniting into one offensive force  
2 points for limitless Rei and Kaworu clones  
1 point for conventional weapons (Longinus lances, in particular)  
1 point for all-terrain access  
1 point for visual ability  
1 point for sheer size difference  
  
TOTAL POINTS: 14 points  
  
  
*****  
  
  
GUNDAM UNIVERSE:  
  
1 point for unpenetrable headquarters  
1 point for independent power source  
1 point for mobility  
1 point for sheer numbers  
-1 point for inability to account for numbers at once  
1 point for superior pilots  
1 point for exotic weapons  
1 point for internal propulsion system  
1 point for being able to get into space at all  
1 point for all-terrain access  
  
TOTAL POINTS: 9 points  
  
  
*****  
  
THE WINNER and UNDISPUTED MECHA OF THEM ALL:  
  
  
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION  
  
  



End file.
